Displaying publications 121 - 140 of 532 in total

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Fulltext QoSRP: A Cross-layer QoS Channel-Aware Routing Protocol for the Internet of Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks
    Faheem M, Butt RA, Raza B, Alquhayz H, Ashraf MW, Shah SB, et al.
    Sensors (Basel), 2019 Nov 02;19(21).
    PMID: 31684014 DOI: 10.3390/s19214762
    Quality of service (QoS)-aware data gathering in static-channel based underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) is severely limited due to location and time-dependent acoustic channel communication characteristics. This paper proposes a novel cross-layer QoS-aware multichannel routing protocol called QoSRP for the internet of UWSNs-based time-critical marine monitoring applications. The proposed QoSRP scheme considers the unique characteristics of the acoustic communication in highly dynamic network topology during gathering and relaying events data towards the sink. The proposed QoSRP scheme during the time-critical events data-gathering process employs three basic mechanisms, namely underwater channel detection (UWCD), underwater channel assignment (UWCA) and underwater packets forwarding (UWPF). The UWCD mechanism finds the vacant channels with a high probability of detection and low probability of missed detection and false alarms. The UWCA scheme assigns high data rates channels to acoustic sensor nodes (ASNs) with longer idle probability in a robust manner. Lastly, the UWPF mechanism during conveying information avoids congestion, data path loops and balances the data traffic load in UWSNs. The QoSRP scheme is validated through extensive simulations conducted by NS2 and AquaSim 2.0 in underwater environments (UWEs). The simulation results reveal that the QoSRP protocol performs better compared to existing routing schemes in UWSNs.
    Matched MeSH terms: Communication; Communications Media
  2. Fulltext Final year students’ performance in communication skills OSCE in a Malaysian medical school
    Chan, S.C., Sandheep, S., Lee, S.L.
    Asian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2018;1(1):32-37.
    MyJurnal
    Introduction: The Royal College of Medicine Perak under Universiti Kuala Lumpur started its own undergraduate medical degree programme in 2007. As part of the review and evaluation of communication skills (CS) training, the performance of the two pioneer batches of final year students in CS Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) stations in the 2012 and 2013 were analysed.
    Methods: The CS OSCE stations were analysed based on the percentage of students obtaining a satisfactory performance in each CS component. Overall performance in each CS component was considered satisfactory, if ≥ 50% of students achieved satisfactory performance or unsatisfactory, if < 50% of students achieved satisfactory performance. The two cohorts were compared for any significant statistical difference (p < 0.05) in their performance.
    Results: Satisfactory performance was obtained in basic CS (courtesy, appropriate non-verbal and verbal CS), stating intention of session, recognizing patient’s cues, checking and addressing patient’s perceptions and concerns, checking patient’s understanding, breaking bad news and maintaining a professional attitude. The performance was unsatisfactory in assessing prior knowledge, discussing patient management and checking patient’s coping skills. Both the two cohorts’ performance did not differ significantly.
    Conclusion: Overall the students’ performance was satisfactory except for assessing prior knowledge, discussing management and checking patients’ coping skills.
    Matched MeSH terms: Communication
  3. Customer Satisfaction and Expectation Approach on Regular Travel Package in Quality Service by Design Using Fuzzy Logic Controller
    Mohammad Nasir Saludin, Rika Fatimah Panjaitan
    Sains Malaysiana, 2004;33.
    There are a lot of factors and conditions to be considered by tour and travel companies when designing quality product due to the fact that the product being sold is intangible and their ultimate goal is to sustain customers' loyalty. Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) has been observed to be compatible to this 'intangible' factor thus giving better result when compared to other methods. By using FLC, all communications are clear and have precise meaning.
    Matched MeSH terms: Communication
  4. Fulltext Bipedal humanoid robot
    Zayer, Iman, Aris, I.B., Marhaban, M.H, Ishak, A.J
    The Pertanika Journal of Scholarly Research Reviews, 2018;4(3):0-0.
    MyJurnal
    The new millennium witnessed increasing attention to the field of robotics, especially the development of humanoid bipedal robot. Attention is noticed from the increasing number of publications as a result of a multitude of humanoid projects for commercial and academic goals. This paper briefly visits the recent activities in this field, highlighting the importance and motivation behind adopting bipedal humanoid projects, particularly underlining biologically inspired design concept, bipedal locomotion and communication. Ultimately, emphasising on power-efficient design. The problem of endurance and effective duty cycle were presented. Finally, potential future application for the humanoid robot was briefly listed.
    Matched MeSH terms: Communication
  5. Fulltext Hybrid Multi-Level Detection and Mitigation of Clone Attacks in Mobile Wireless Sensor Network (MWSN)
    Shaukat HR, Hashim F, Shaukat MA, Ali Alezabi K
    Sensors (Basel), 2020 Apr 17;20(8).
    PMID: 32316487 DOI: 10.3390/s20082283
    Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are often deployed in hostile environments, where an adversary can physically capture some of the sensor nodes. The adversary collects all the nodes' important credentials and subsequently replicate the nodes, which may expose the network to a number of other security attacks, and eventually compromise the entire network. This harmful attack where a single or more nodes illegitimately claims an identity as replicas is known as the node replication attack. The problem of node replication attack can be further aggravated due to the mobile nature in WSN. In this paper, we propose an extended version of multi-level replica detection technique built on Danger Theory (DT), which utilizes a hybrid approach (centralized and distributed) to shield the mobile wireless sensor networks (MWSNs) from clone attacks. The danger theory concept depends on a multi-level of detections; first stage (highlights the danger zone (DZ) by checking the abnormal behavior of mobile nodes), second stage (battery check and random number) and third stage (inform about replica to other networks). The DT method performance is highlighted through security parameters such as false negative, energy, detection time, communication overhead and delay in detection. The proposed approach also demonstrates that the hybrid DT method is capable and successful in detecting and mitigating any malicious activities initiated by the replica. Nowadays, crimes are vastly increasing and it is crucial to modify the systems accordingly. Indeed, it is understood that the communication needs to be secured by keen observation at each level of detection. The simulation results show that the proposed approach overcomes the weaknesses of the previous and existing centralized and distributed approaches and enhances the performance of MWSN in terms of communication and memory overhead.
    Matched MeSH terms: Computer Communication Networks
  6. Fulltext Liquid Metal Antennas: Materials, Fabrication and Applications
    Paracha KN, Butt AD, Alghamdi AS, Babale SA, Soh PJ
    Sensors (Basel), 2019 Dec 28;20(1).
    PMID: 31905646 DOI: 10.3390/s20010177
    This work reviews design aspects of liquid metal antennas and their corresponding applications. In the age of modern wireless communication technologies, adaptability and versatility have become highly attractive features of any communication device. Compared to traditional conductors like copper, the flow property and lack of elasticity limit of conductive fluids, makes them an ideal alternative for applications demanding mechanically flexible antennas. These fluidic properties also allow innovative antenna fabrication techniques like 3D printing, injecting, or spraying the conductive fluid on rigid/flexible substrates. Such fluids can also be easily manipulated to implement reconfigurability in liquid antennas using methods like micro pumping or electrochemically controlled capillary action as compared to traditional approaches like high-frequency switching. In this work, we discuss attributes of widely used conductive fluids, their novel patterning/fabrication techniques, and their corresponding state-of-the-art applications.
    Matched MeSH terms: Communication
  7. Fulltext Mechanism to prevent the abuse of IPv6 fragmentation in OpenFlow networks
    Al-Ani A, Anbar M, Laghari SA, Al-Ani AK
    PLoS One, 2020;15(5):e0232574.
    PMID: 32392261 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232574
    OpenFlow makes a network highly flexible and fast-evolving by separating control and data planes. The control plane thus becomes responsive to changes in topology and load balancing requirements. OpenFlow also offers a new approach to handle security threats accurately and responsively. Therefore, it is used as an innovative firewall that acts as a first-hop security to protect networks against malicious users. However, the firewall provided by OpenFlow suffers from Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6) fragmentation, which can be used to bypass the OpenFlow firewall. The OpenFlow firewall cannot identify the message payload unless the switch implements IPv6 fragment reassembly. This study tests the IPv6 fragmented packets that can evade the OpenFlow firewall, and proposes a new mechanism to guard against attacks carried out by malicious users to exploit IPv6 fragmentation loophole in OpenFlow networks. The proposed mechanism is evaluated in a simulated environment by using six scenarios, and results exhibit that the proposed mechanism effectively fixes the loophole and successfully prevents the abuse of IPv6 fragmentation in OpenFlow networks.
    Matched MeSH terms: Computer Communication Networks
  8. Fulltext A Low-Cost Information Monitoring System for Smart Farming Applications
    Saqib M, Almohamad TA, Mehmood RM
    Sensors (Basel), 2020 Apr 22;20(8).
    PMID: 32331212 DOI: 10.3390/s20082367
    A low-cost, low-power, and low data-rate solution is proposed to fulfill the requirements of information monitoring for actual large-scale agricultural farms. A small-scale farm can be easily managed. By contrast, a large farm will require automating equipment that contributes to crop production. Sensor based soil properties measurement plays an integral role in designing a fully automated agricultural farm, also provides more satisfactory results than any manual method. The existing information monitoring solutions are inefficient in terms of higher deployment cost and limited communication range to adapt the need of large-scale agriculture farms. A serial based low-power, long-range, and low-cost communication module is proposed to confront the challenges of monitoring information over long distances. In the proposed system, a tree-based communication mechanism is deployed to extend the communication range by adding intermediate nodes. Each sensor node consists of a solar panel, a rechargeable cell, a microcontroller, a moisture sensor, and a communication unit. Each node is capable to work as a sensor node and router node for network traffic. Minimized data logs from the central node are sent daily to the cloud for future analytics purpose. After conducting a detailed experiment in open sight, the communication distance measured 250 m between two points and increased to 750 m by adding two intermediate nodes. The minimum working current of each node was 2 mA, and the packet loss rate was approximately 2-5% on different packet sizes of the entire network. Results show that the proposed approach can be used as a reference model to meet the requirements for soil measurement, transmission, and storage in a large-scale agricultural farm.
    Matched MeSH terms: Communication
  9. An Evidence-Based Forensic Taxonomy of Windows Phone Communication Apps
    Cahyani NDW, Martini B, Choo KR, Ab Rahman NH, Ashman H
    J Forensic Sci, 2018 May;63(3):868-881.
    PMID: 28833117 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.13624
    Communication apps can be an important source of evidence in a forensic investigation (e.g., in the investigation of a drug trafficking or terrorism case where the communications apps were used by the accused persons during the transactions or planning activities). This study presents the first evidence-based forensic taxonomy of Windows Phone communication apps, using an existing two-dimensional Android forensic taxonomy as a baseline. Specifically, 30 Windows Phone communication apps, including Instant Messaging (IM) and Voice over IP (VoIP) apps, are examined. Artifacts extracted using physical acquisition are analyzed, and seven digital evidence objects of forensic interest are identified, namely: Call Log, Chats, Contacts, Locations, Installed Applications, SMSs and User Accounts. Findings from this study would help to facilitate timely and effective forensic investigations involving Windows Phone communication apps.
    Matched MeSH terms: Communication
  10. Fulltext In-Depth Review of Augmented Reality: Tracking Technologies, Development Tools, AR Displays, Collaborative AR, and Security Concerns
    Syed TA, Siddiqui MS, Abdullah HB, Jan S, Namoun A, Alzahrani A, et al.
    Sensors (Basel), 2022 Dec 23;23(1).
    PMID: 36616745 DOI: 10.3390/s23010146
    Augmented reality (AR) has gained enormous popularity and acceptance in the past few years. AR is indeed a combination of different immersive experiences and solutions that serve as integrated components to assemble and accelerate the augmented reality phenomena as a workable and marvelous adaptive solution for many realms. These solutions of AR include tracking as a means for keeping track of the point of reference to make virtual objects visible in a real scene. Similarly, display technologies combine the virtual and real world with the user's eye. Authoring tools provide platforms to develop AR applications by providing access to low-level libraries. The libraries can thereafter interact with the hardware of tracking sensors, cameras, and other technologies. In addition to this, advances in distributed computing and collaborative augmented reality also need stable solutions. The various participants can collaborate in an AR setting. The authors of this research have explored many solutions in this regard and present a comprehensive review to aid in doing research and improving different business transformations. However, during the course of this study, we identified that there is a lack of security solutions in various areas of collaborative AR (CAR), specifically in the area of distributed trust management in CAR. This research study also proposed a trusted CAR architecture with a use-case of tourism that can be used as a model for researchers with an interest in making secure AR-based remote communication sessions.
    Matched MeSH terms: Communication
  11. Evolutionary loss of complexity in animal signals: cause and consequence
    Ord TJ, Diesmos A, Ahmad N, Das I
    Evolution, 2023 Mar 01;77(3):660-669.
    PMID: 36626820 DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpac057
    We identified hypotheses for the cause and consequences of the loss of complexity in animal signals and tested these using a genus of visually communicating lizards, the Southeast Asian Draco lizards. Males of some species have lost the headbob component from their display, which is otherwise central to the communication of this genus. These males instead display a large, colorful dewlap to defend territories and attract mates. This dewlap initially evolved to augment the headbob component of the display, but has become the exclusive system of communication. We tested whether the loss of headbobs was caused by relaxed selection, habitat-dependent constraints, or size-specific energetic constraints on display movement. We then examined whether the consequences of this loss have been mitigated by increased signaling effort or complexity in the color of the dewlap. It appears the increased cost of display movement resulting from the evolution of large body size might have contributed to the loss of headbobs and has been somewhat compensated for by the evolution of greater complexity in dewlap color. However, this evolutionary shift is unlikely to have maintained the complexity previously present in the communication system, resulting in an apparent detrimental loss of information potential.
    Matched MeSH terms: Animal Communication
  12. Fulltext The Pleiotropic Role of Extracellular ATP in Myocardial Remodelling
    Sudi S, Thomas FM, Daud SK, Ag Daud DM, Sunggip C
    Molecules, 2023 Feb 23;28(5).
    PMID: 36903347 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28052102
    Myocardial remodelling is a molecular, cellular, and interstitial adaptation of the heart in response to altered environmental demands. The heart undergoes reversible physiological remodelling in response to changes in mechanical loading or irreversible pathological remodelling induced by neurohumoral factors and chronic stress, leading to heart failure. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is one of the potent mediators in cardiovascular signalling that act on the ligand-gated (P2X) and G-protein-coupled (P2Y) purinoceptors via the autocrine or paracrine manners. These activations mediate numerous intracellular communications by modulating the production of other messengers, including calcium, growth factors, cytokines, and nitric oxide. ATP is known to play a pleiotropic role in cardiovascular pathophysiology, making it a reliable biomarker for cardiac protection. This review outlines the sources of ATP released under physiological and pathological stress and its cell-specific mechanism of action. We further highlight a series of cardiovascular cell-to-cell communications of extracellular ATP signalling cascades in cardiac remodelling, which can be seen in hypertension, ischemia/reperfusion injury, fibrosis, hypertrophy, and atrophy. Finally, we summarize current pharmacological intervention using the ATP network as a target for cardiac protection. A better understanding of ATP communication in myocardial remodelling could be worthwhile for future drug development and repurposing and the management of cardiovascular diseases.
    Matched MeSH terms: Cell Communication
  13. Advocating for a dementia-inclusive visual communication
    Ang PS, Yeo SL, Koran L
    Dementia (London), 2023 Apr;22(3):628-645.
    PMID: 36764831 DOI: 10.1177/14713012231155979
    INTRODUCTION: This study examines the underlying visual communication strategies found in existing images of dementia in the public domain. By delineating how experiences of dementia are visualized and their consequent social interpretations, we aim to inform and advocate for a dementia-inclusive visual communication, that is, visual depictions that cultivate and represent a dementia-inclusive society.

    METHODS: The visuals were analyzed by employing the Visual Discourses of Disability (ViDD) framework that juxtaposes the "perspectivizing-personizing" cline with the "enabling-disabling" continuum. The data studied comprise a total of 432 images sourced from three domains, namely (1) The Star, a Malaysian mainstream English newspaper (2012-2021); (2) Alzheimer's Disease Foundation Malaysia (ADFM) website (2019-2021); and (3) the Ministry of Health Malaysia (2019-2021) website. Findings from the visual analyses were corroborated by four representatives of ADFM in a group interview.

    RESULTS: There is a predominance of stigmatized images, constructing dementia as a loss and deficit, thus depicting individuals in distanced suffering. Generic representations of people through stock images, a unique focus on the hands, representations of brain degeneration through abstractions and missing puzzle pieces are also prevalent. Despite these, the interview data confirmed that the perspectivizing aspect may be necessary to educate the public on what dementia entails. While personizing images that depict personhood and actual persons living with dementia are ideal, the use of stock images may be necessary if there is a need to maintain confidentiality and observe sensitivities. Similarly, images with positive emotions are encouraged but disabling ones are equally important to reflect reality and inculcate empathy.

    CONCLUSION: When capturing, selecting and publishing images of dementia, organizations should deliberate on different visual elements which evoke empowerment, advocacy, handicapping and othering implications as outlined in the ViDD framework. Any decision should only be made after considering the purposes of publications and implications such images have on the intended audiences.

    Matched MeSH terms: Communication
  14. Fulltext Anonymity Assurance Using Efficient Pseudonym Consumption in Internet of Vehicles
    Mushtaq M, Ullah A, Ashraf H, Jhanjhi NZ, Masud M, Alqhatani A, et al.
    Sensors (Basel), 2023 May 31;23(11).
    PMID: 37299944 DOI: 10.3390/s23115217
    The Internet of vehicles (IoVs) is an innovative paradigm which ensures a safe journey by communicating with other vehicles. It involves a basic safety message (BSM) that contains sensitive information in a plain text that can be subverted by an adversary. To reduce such attacks, a pool of pseudonyms is allotted which are changed regularly in different zones or contexts. In base schemes, the BSM is sent to neighbors just by considering their speed. However, this parameter is not enough because network topology is very dynamic and vehicles can change their route at any time. This problem increases pseudonym consumption which ultimately increases communication overhead, increases traceability and has high BSM loss. This paper presents an efficient pseudonym consumption protocol (EPCP) which considers the vehicles in the same direction, and similar estimated location. The BSM is shared only to these relevant vehicles. The performance of the purposed scheme in contrast to base schemes is validated via extensive simulations. The results prove that the proposed EPCP technique outperformed compared to its counterparts in terms of pseudonym consumption, BSM loss rate and achieved traceability.
    Matched MeSH terms: Communication
  15. Fulltext Optimized Visual Internet of Things for Video Streaming Enhancement in 5G Sensor Network Devices
    Budati AK, Islam S, Hasan MK, Safie N, Bahar N, Ghazal TM
    Sensors (Basel), 2023 May 25;23(11).
    PMID: 37299798 DOI: 10.3390/s23115072
    The global expansion of the Visual Internet of Things (VIoT)'s deployment with multiple devices and sensor interconnections has been widespread. Frame collusion and buffering delays are the primary artifacts in the broad area of VIoT networking applications due to significant packet loss and network congestion. Numerous studies have been carried out on the impact of packet loss on Quality of Experience (QoE) for a wide range of applications. In this paper, a lossy video transmission framework for the VIoT considering the KNN classifier merged with the H.265 protocols. The performance of the proposed framework was assessed while considering the congestion of encrypted static images transmitted to the wireless sensor networks. The performance analysis of the proposed KNN-H.265 protocol is compared with the existing traditional H.265 and H.264 protocols. The analysis suggests that the traditional H.264 and H.265 protocols cause video conversation packet drops. The performance of the proposed protocol is estimated with the parameters of frame number, delay, throughput, packet loss ratio, and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) on MATLAB 2018a simulation software. The proposed model gives 4% and 6% better PSNR values than the existing two methods and better throughput.
    Matched MeSH terms: Computer Communication Networks
  16. Fulltext An Intelligent Healthcare System Using IoT in Wireless Sensor Network
    Jabeen T, Jabeen I, Ashraf H, Jhanjhi NZ, Yassine A, Hossain MS
    Sensors (Basel), 2023 May 25;23(11).
    PMID: 37299782 DOI: 10.3390/s23115055
    The Internet of Things (IoT) uses wireless networks without infrastructure to install a huge number of wireless sensors that track system, physical, and environmental factors. There are a variety of WSN uses, and some well-known application factors include energy consumption and lifespan duration for routing purposes. The sensors have detecting, processing, and communication capabilities. In this paper, an intelligent healthcare system is proposed which consists of nano sensors that collect real-time health status and transfer it to the doctor's server. Time consumption and various attacks are major concerns, and some existing techniques contain stumbling blocks. Therefore, in this research, a genetic-based encryption method is advocated to protect data transmitted over a wireless channel using sensors to avoid an uncomfortable data transmission environment. An authentication procedure is also proposed for legitimate users to access the data channel. Results show that the proposed algorithm is lightweight and energy efficient, and time consumption is 90% lower with a higher security ratio.
    Matched MeSH terms: Computer Communication Networks
  17. Fulltext Implementing circularity measurements in industry 4.0-based manufacturing metrology using MQTT protocol and Open CV: A case study
    Saif Y, Yusof Y, Rus AZM, Ghaleb AM, Mejjaouli S, Al-Alimi S, et al.
    PLoS One, 2023;18(10):e0292814.
    PMID: 37831665 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292814
    In the context of Industry 4.0, manufacturing metrology is crucial for inspecting and measuring machines. The Internet of Things (IoT) technology enables seamless communication between advanced industrial devices through local and cloud computing servers. This study investigates the use of the MQTT protocol to enhance the performance of circularity measurement data transmission between cloud servers and round-hole data sources through Open CV. Accurate inspection of circular characteristics, particularly roundness errors, is vital for lubricant distribution, assemblies, and rotational force innovation. Circularity measurement techniques employ algorithms like the minimal zone circle tolerance algorithm. Vision inspection systems, utilizing image processing techniques, can promptly and accurately detect quality concerns by analyzing the model's surface through circular dimension analysis. This involves sending the model's image to a computer, which employs techniques such as Hough Transform, Edge Detection, and Contour Analysis to identify circular features and extract relevant parameters. This method is utilized in the camera industry and component assembly. To assess the performance, a comparative experiment was conducted between the non-contact-based 3SMVI system and the contact-based CMM system widely used in various industries for roundness evaluation. The CMM technique is known for its high precision but is time-consuming. Experimental results indicated a variation of 5 to 9.6 micrometers between the two methods. It is suggested that using a high-resolution camera and appropriate lighting conditions can further enhance result precision.
    Matched MeSH terms: Communication
  18. Fulltext ECA-VFog: An efficient certificateless authentication scheme for 5G-assisted vehicular fog computing
    Almazroi AA, Aldhahri EA, Al-Shareeda MA, Manickam S
    PLoS One, 2023;18(6):e0287291.
    PMID: 37352258 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287291
    Fifth-generation (5G)-enabled vehicular fog computing technologies have always been at the forefront of innovation because they support smart transport like the sharing of traffic data and cooperative processing in the urban fabric. Nevertheless, the most important factors limiting progress are concerns over message protection and safety. To cope with these challenges, several scholars have proposed certificateless authentication schemes with pseudonyms and traceability. These schemes avoid complicated management of certificate and escrow of key in the public key infrastructure-based approaches in the identity-based approaches, respectively. Nevertheless, problems such as high communication costs, security holes, and computational complexity still exist. Therefore, this paper proposes an efficient certificateless authentication called the ECA-VFog scheme for fog computing with 5G-assisted vehicular systems. The proposed ECA-VFog scheme applied efficient operations based on elliptic curve cryptography that is supported by a fog server through a 5G-base station. This work conducts a safety analysis of the security designs to analysis the viability and value of the proposed ECA-VFog scheme. In the performance ovulation section, the computation costs for signing and verification process are 2.3539 ms and 1.5752 ms, respectively. While, the communication costs and energy consumption overhead of the ECA-VFog are 124 bytes and 25.610432 mJ, respectively. Moreover, comparing the ECA-VFog scheme to other existing schemes, the performance estimation reveals that it is more cost-effective with regard to computation cost, communication cost, and energy consumption.
    Matched MeSH terms: Communication
  19. Fulltext A Novel Hybrid Harris Hawk-Arithmetic Optimization Algorithm for Industrial Wireless Mesh Networks
    Devan PAM, Ibrahim R, Omar M, Bingi K, Abdulrab H
    Sensors (Basel), 2023 Jul 07;23(13).
    PMID: 37448072 DOI: 10.3390/s23136224
    A novel hybrid Harris Hawk-Arithmetic Optimization Algorithm (HHAOA) for optimizing the Industrial Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) and real-time pressure process control was proposed in this research article. The proposed algorithm uses inspiration from Harris Hawk Optimization and the Arithmetic Optimization Algorithm to improve position relocation problems, premature convergence, and the poor accuracy the existing techniques face. The HHAOA algorithm was evaluated on various benchmark functions and compared with other optimization algorithms, namely Arithmetic Optimization Algorithm, Moth Flame Optimization, Sine Cosine Algorithm, Grey Wolf Optimization, and Harris Hawk Optimization. The proposed algorithm was also applied to a real-world industrial wireless mesh network simulation and experimentation on the real-time pressure process control system. All the results demonstrate that the HHAOA algorithm outperforms different algorithms regarding mean, standard deviation, convergence speed, accuracy, and robustness and improves client router connectivity and network congestion with a 31.7% reduction in Wireless Mesh Network routers. In the real-time pressure process, the HHAOA optimized Fractional-order Predictive PI (FOPPI) Controller produced a robust and smoother control signal leading to minimal peak overshoot and an average of a 53.244% faster settling. Based on the results, the algorithm enhanced the efficiency and reliability of industrial wireless networks and real-time pressure process control systems, which are critical for industrial automation and control applications.
    Matched MeSH terms: Computer Communication Networks
  20. Fulltext Provision of drug and alcohol services amidst COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative evaluation on the experiences of service providers
    Richards-Jones L, Patel P, Jagpal PK, Lowrie R, Saunders K, Burwood S, et al.
    Int J Clin Pharm, 2023 Oct;45(5):1098-1106.
    PMID: 36971897 DOI: 10.1007/s11096-023-01557-1
    BACKGROUND: The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the provision of drug and alcohol (D&A) services and associated outcomes have been under-researched.

    AIM: This study aimed to understand the experiences of service providers in relation to how drug and alcohol (D&A) services were affected during COVID-19 pandemic, including the adaptations made and lessons learnt for the future.

    METHOD: Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants from various D&A service organisations across the UK. Data were audio recorded, followed by transcription and thematic analysis.

    RESULTS: A total of 46 participants representing various service providers were recruited between October and January 2022. The thematic analysis identified ten themes. COVID-19 required significant changes to how the treatment was provided and prioritised. Expansion of telehealth and digital services were described, which reduced service wait times and increased opportunities for peer network. However, they described missed opportunities for disease screening, and some users risked facing digital exclusion. Participants who provided opiate substitution therapy service spoke of improving service provider/user trust following the shift from daily supervised treatment consumption to weekly dispensing. At the same time, they feared fatal overdoses and non-adherence to treatment.

    CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates the multifaceted impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on UK-based D&A service provisions. The long-term impact of reduced supervision on Substance Use Disorder treatment and outcomes and any effect of virtual communications on service efficiency, patient-provider relationships and treatment retention and successes are unknown, suggesting the need for further study to assess their utility.

    Matched MeSH terms: Communication
Related Terms
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator ([email protected])

External Links